Inside a wooden room with exotic finishes, sliding doors made of paper, and that is quite spacious, three figures can be seen sitting around a low table.
The one sitting on the guest's side is Asahiko, very recognizable by his golden hair that reaches his shoulders, deep blue eyes, and exquisite features that are the perfect combination of West and East.
Behind him and acting like a small trembling shadow, Akemi keeps her head lowered while playing with her black hair, before briefly fixing her brown eyes on the old man in front of her.
This old man is on the host's side of the house. He has a serious and slightly noble bearing, although his slightly trembling gaze makes it clear that at the end of the day he is still just a simple field leader.
"Asahiko, right?"
Glancing briefly at the sword on Asahiko's waist, his unusual hair, and his dignified bearing, the old man maintains a respectful tone.
"That's right, Mr. Izayoi. I am Asahiko, an errant swordsman, one could say, one who has heard talk of a certain… Beast that roams the surroundings."
"It is not just any beast, young swordsman. It is one of the twin ogres that were once sealed behind the mountain by an old monk. These are extremely bloodthirsty and lethal due to their evil nature."
Not-so-subtly cursing the so-called "Twin Ogres," Izayoi clenches his hands and a deep frown forms on his face, a sign that perhaps he is remembering something unpleasant.
Of course, Asahiko was not a fortune-teller or an expert in facial expressions to know that, so he simply overlooks it and is drawn to what sounds strangest of all to him, that is, the so-called ogre.
"Ogres?"
"Yes, young swordsman. These are large humanoid beasts that stand out for their inhuman physical strength, strong skin color, twisted horns, and a bestial desire for human flesh."
Describing the classic ogre (Japanese Oni), Izayoi seems to want to scare Asahiko away from here, but not out of malice, rather out of a strange concern reflected on his face.
Such well-intentioned actions only increase Asahiko's desire to help, although it cannot be denied that he also wants to see that supposed "Ogre," to see whether it is not a bear, to see whether it really is not in his reality, and to see whether everyone in the world has gone crazy.
"I see, so a simple ogre is all the problem here? I can take care of that. Besides, I had already promised Akemi."
"Seriously! No, think about it very carefully, young swordsman. We have also tried to defend ourselves, but a group of armed men is nothing but a game to that thing."
"Excuse my words, Chief Izayoi, but what can some villagers know about the art of combat?"
Acting with due respect toward Izayoi but still showing firmness, Asahiko's blue eyes lock onto his brown ones and he speaks confidently, both verbally and physically.
That makes the old man Izayoi let out a sigh, while his brown eyes briefly lose focus in the mist of memory, and then, upon returning to himself, he begins to speak.
"The red ogre, one of the twins, always comes at night… Now, in a few hours. Think carefully, young man. You still have time to withdraw."
"… Thank you for the words, but that ogre will fall."
"Haa… Youth."
Watching Asahiko leave through the door followed by Akemi, the old man Izayoi lets out a long sigh and closes his eyes, thus letting memories flood him in a sweet dream.
…
"Well done, Akemi. Thanks to you I was able to see Izayoi, and you also didn't let anything slip about Saya."
Walking through the corridors bathed in the glow of sunset, Asahiko messes up Akemi's black hair with his hand and gives her a smile, before turning to look outside.
Out there was a small garden decorated with effort despite how rustic it looks, although what draws Asahiko's attention is the golden sun setting on the horizon and marking the beginning of the night.
"Big brother… You don't have to do this. Chief Izayoi is right, those ogres are very—"
"I said I would do it, and I will, Akemi. Not only for you, but because I also want to and must do it."
Speaking with a strange seriousness made even more solemn by the golden glow of the sun over him, Asahiko laughs a little and messes up Akemi's hair again.
"Umh, stop it, it's dirty."
"Jajaja, how cute, but you're a little right. Don't look at me like that, thanks to that I managed to win you a bath and a bed to sleep in tonight."
"What, when?"
"With one of the maids while you were worried about me in your little head, Akemi."
Teasing the little girl and stopping her with one hand when he sees her trying to jump on him, Asahiko laughs heartily again before becoming truly serious.
"Go take a bath and then go to sleep, Akemi. Tss, tss, tss, I don't want any surprises or to see you again until tomorrow."
"But—"
"No buts, Akemi. Now go and enjoy the night, I'm going to take care of that annoying beast."
Giving her one last pat on her head full of black hair, Asahiko lengthens his stride and easily leaves Akemi behind.
With that done and seeing how night approaches, Asahiko travels through the empty corridors of the house until he manages to go outside, thus remaining alone with the silent village in the darkness.
"What can you tell me about ogres, Saya?"
"Umm, ogres? They're nothing more than low-level cannon fodder. The only noteworthy things are their humanoid form, tough skin, and high regeneration."
Speaking from inside the scabbard belonging to Clouded Fang, supposedly to save energy, Saya shows himself completely unconcerned about how dangerous ogres can be.
"I knew I could trust your power for this, Saya. Come on, you sealed an evil dragon; obviously defeating an ogre is nothing."
"Am I going to defeat an ogre?"
"Of course. Unless it's a bear and by some miracle it's a mythological beast, but just in case, be ready for combat."
"Eh… Maybe this is a good time to tell you that I don't have any offensive power?"
Dropping that bomb with a slight tone of embarrassment, the glow radiating from the scabbard darkens a bit, but instantly recovers just as easily, and Saya acts as if nothing bad is happening.
Obviously, Asahiko could not let that information pass just like that. He might literally be facing a mythological being in a few moments, but it's not like he can hit Saya.
Not because he doesn't want to, since he does want to, but because Asahiko is currently climbing the stairs of the village watchtower, leaving him without any free hand.
"Are you joking with me, Saya?"
"… What did you say? I think I didn't hear you well. Seems like there's interference from Souga… I'm going to have to go back to sleep. I wish you luck."
"Saya… Filthy, cowardly rat."
Cursing through clenched teeth at Saya, who escaped without looking back at the first sign of danger, Asahiko finishes climbing the watchtower and points Clouded Fang toward the ground, but in the end he just lets out a sigh.
Now calmer thanks to that sigh, Asahiko approaches the edges and looks at the village from above. The truth is there wasn't much to see, since the lighting was minimal—just a few scattered braziers and the moonlight—but it was more than enough for Asahiko's enhanced vision.
"It's not strange; everyone's sight improves in the dark when they adapt to it… Yes, totally true."
Using a kind of self–brainwashing, Asahiko gives another bored look around, and just then his gaze crosses with that of a red-eyed beast.
This thing was on all fours, but it had the figure of a humanoid. Its tangled brown hair covered its entire back like a cloak, while its red-skinned muscles seemed to throb with pure power.
Roar!
Letting out a roar that wakes the entire village, the beast's limbs shatter the ground with their raw power as it charges toward Asahiko. Along the way it strikes a few braziers, gaining an even more brutal and savage appearance thanks to the flames, although this is used by Asahiko to descend from the watchtower and face it on the ground.
And then what had to happen happened, beginning the first round of combat with the beast's charge and Asahiko's sidestep. After that dodge and seeing how the beast crashes into the watchtower, Asahiko draws Clouded Fang from its scabbard before putting distance between the two of them.
"Clearly it's not a beast, but it's not an ogre either… Maybe it's just a wild ogre? If that even exists."
Doing a superficial analysis of the situation, and also stepping back a few more steps as he sees the ogre send debris flying from its body, Asahiko positions Clouded Fang in front of him while gripping it with both hands.
The scabbard, on the other hand, does not end up lying on the ground; instead, with a small glow it begins to float around Asahiko, showing that Saya is observing this battle.
"Agh… Meat… Meat for the leader!"
Throwing a piece of wood like a javelin at Asahiko—which he dodges, even to his own surprise—the ogre completely frees itself from the rubble and charges blindly again, full of fury.
This simple attack is taken advantage of by Asahiko, who rolls on the ground and dodges once more. But the ogre is not an idiot, so it stops its momentum by planting its left foot into the ground and lunges at Asahiko with arms wide open, in a kind of martial grapple.
That unexpected attack works perfectly against the defensive Asahiko, causing him to be surrounded by two muscular arms that squeeze him like a vise. Strangely, however, he shows no sign of pain, only discomfort.
"Come on, young Asahiko, I know you can get out of this."
"If you're only going to complain, then help with something, Saya!"
Shouting those words aloud toward the floating scabbard, Asahiko starts kicking and flailing with his arms and legs, but seeing how useless that is, he simply decides to headbutt the ogre directly.
That surprisingly strong blow from Asahiko makes the ogre release its grip, letting him fall to the ground and freeing his limbs, which he immediately uses to slash forward with Clouded Fang.
The red flesh of the ogre's muscular chest opens like paper, spraying a jet of warm, foul-smelling blood over Asahiko's body.
Freshly bathed in the ogre's warm blood, Asahiko does not retreat; instead, he takes another confident step forward and slashes again with Clouded Fang, marking a bloody X in the ogre's flesh.
"Agghh!! My meat! My meat!"
"Your meat? My clothes were new, damn miserable animal!"
Insulting the ogre, which covers the wound in its flesh with one hand while retreating, yet still cannot hide how its flesh twists and oozes blood, Asahiko takes a strong step forward before thrusting straight toward its heart with an impaling stab.
By luck or pure animal survival instinct, the ogre stops covering its wound and catches the thrust with the palms of its hands, saving its life from a premature death but being cut by Clouded Fang, which bathes in even more of its blood.
[Haa… More, more… Give me even more blood!]
Letting out both a physical and spiritual scream from within the gem embedded in Clouded Fang's hilt, Souga takes advantage of Asahiko's current confusion to manifest some of his power in Clouded Fang, causing the sword's blade to be bathed in a nauseating red glow.
That reddish aura has an immediate effect on the ogre's flesh and blood, because when touched, the blood now flows more easily and the flesh no longer even tries to regenerate, as if Clouded Fang had devoured those racial abilities.
"Saya… Do something."
[Jajaja, do you want to fight this ogre hand to hand, little fox? If not, then cut its flesh with the sword, bathe the blade in hot blood—let me devour its soul, and in exchange I will give you power!]
Acting dominant but without truly taking action, Souga does not take control of Clouded Fang nor try to seize Asahiko's body, instead making him a tempting offer.
Of course, it is "good" only in this situation. Asahiko is literally facing an ogre almost three meters tall, but between trusting unknown powers inside your body or a magical sword, the latter seems more reliable in the short term.
"Only the ogre, right? No sacrificing the people of the village, children, or anything like that, right?"
[Heh, even if you killed thousands of them they would barely serve as food, but yōkai, half-demons, demons, and daiyōkai… All of them are a splendid dinner because of their spiritual energy.]
Erasing Asahiko's concerns with his words, Souga finally stops absorbing the ogre's blood and releases the control he had over it, allowing the poor yōkai to retreat backward.
This does nothing but further enrage the ogre, an instinctive reaction to the fear running through its veins, so it growls low and charges again at the ant that terrifies it.
[Now let me observe your will, little fox. Cut it with the sword, make it bleed from its wounds, give me its soul!]
"Go to hell, Souga!"
Blocking the ogre's strike with the flat of the blade, Asahiko is dragged backward by the sheer force of the blow, but he does not let himself be intimidated and uses it to lower his stance.
Already in a low stance, positioning his sword at hip level and seeing the ogre's extended arm, Asahiko's pupils dilate before he makes a fast upward slash.
What happened was as expected—so much so that when the ogre's right arm goes flying into the sky, Asahiko springs up like a coiled spring and makes another cut, with which he decapitates the ogre.
"Ha… Ha… I did it, damn it, I did it."
Letting himself fall to the ground stained with ogre blood, a smile spreads across Asahiko's face without his consent, while he seems to sink into deep thoughts.
His first thought is obviously that he has just killed a mythological being with a magical sword, in a place similar to feudal Japan but with supernatural things.
Then come thoughts about his physical changes: the sudden strength to knock the ogre away with a headbutt, the physical and reaction speed that saved him several times in combat, the lack of fear when acting… Many things that are completely inexplicable.
"Are you alright, young Asahiko?"
"Yes, but I just killed a damn yōkai, Oni, mythological being, or whatever you want to call it, with a magical sword."
Looking at the stars in the sky while speaking in a monotone voice, Asahiko still does not seem to connect his reality with this one, but Saya fails to notice that.
[In fact, little fox, you have finished it, its life diminished and erased from existence.]
"Since when are you a poet, Souga?"
[Wretched servant of Inu no Taisho, you could never comprehend how vast my power or knowledge is. Even in hell my species is revered, worshiped by sinners!]
"And you ended up being the hilt of a sword, so stop being so full of yourself, Souga."
Silencing the evil dragon Souga with harsh truth, Asahiko finally stands up from the ground and wrinkles his nose upon smelling his body. Yes, that sense was also enhanced, and possibly the others too.
[Heh, that cowardly serpent attacked me during my hibernation—a cowardly act without which it never would have managed to defeat me!]
"But it defeated you, and that's what matters, oh great evil dragon. Saya, put it in the scabbard, I need to go take a bath."
Smelling his body with a face full of disgust, Asahiko shakes Clouded Fang several times, managing to fling the blood off the blade, then hands it to Saya, who remains silent.
He—Saya—simply stares at Clouded Fang/Souga for a few moments, but seeing that it makes no attempt to escape or go berserk, he floats with the scabbard and sheathes the sword again.
"I think it likes you quite a lot, young Asahiko."
"Do I have to be happy about that?"
Mocking Saya's words sarcastically with a very exaggerated expression, Asahiko erases that smile when he notices Saya's sudden seriousness and stops.
"Remember that dragons and serpents are family, Asahiko. Never trust Souga's words. Before Master Inu no Taisho had Clouded Fang under his control, thousands died by its cursed blade."
"… I understand. I still haven't forgotten that he tried to steal my body, Saya."
"Good. Now I will truly go watch over the seal, lest Souga take advantage to do something."
Bidding farewell with a brief nod of his head, Saya's small figure merges once more with Clouded Fang's scabbard, leaving Asahiko alone with the darkness of the night.
He stands there for a brief moment, but in the end he shakes his head and puts a small smile on his face, then begins walking toward Izayoi's house, with the moonlight bathing his solitary figure.